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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The best (and worst) books of 2015

I was so excited when Steph and Jana announced they were doing a bonus show us your books because I always like posting about books at the same time as everyone else, makes me feel less like 10 year old Kristen who would sit in the library at lunch because she didn't have any friends.. ahem. Anyway! Two posts today because I wouldn't miss either link up.

About halfway through the year, I did a top 10 books of 2015 so far, and while they are all still good books, and I would absolutely recommend all of them, only a couple are repeated on today's list. Picking the 'best' or 'worst' books, even when it's only your opinion, is so hard because what constitutes best? Some of these books blew me away with how well they were written, others gave me all the feels but could have been written by a ten year old, others randomly pop into my head several months later, others might have had me professing my love immediately after but I forgot about them 2 weeks later, others I would recommend but wouldn't read again.. it's hard, y'all. But I tried.

The best books this year

The Sea of
Tranquility by Katja
Millay- I loved this book
so much and I couldn't even really tell you why. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan- besides the fact that I am unnaturally obsessed with all things Royal,
I just loved this book. It was like 'squeeee' inducing.

The Martianby
Andy Weir-
I've talked about this book so much I should really just shut up about it. But
I loved it, especially because I didn't expect to, and don't you love when that
happens?

Big Little
Lies andWhat Alice
Forgotby Liana Moriarty - I lovedBig Little Lies, it was so
interesting and captivating, I stayed up to finish it.What Alice Forgotwas so different but just as
captivating and I loved it so much, Plus, Australia.

Saving
Francescaby Melina Marchetta- This is one of
those books that I don't 100% remember after reading it several months ago,
except I remember the feelings I had whilst reading it, and they were such good
feelings.

Throne of
Glass by
Sarah J. Maas - this
series sucked me in, loved it. Hate that it isn't finished.

Easyby Tammara Webber - This book had
so many great reviews that I was a little hesitant to start it, but it blew all
my expectations out of the water. Loved it.

Winterby Marissa Meyer - It's very
rare that a series ends as well as this one did. I will read anything Meyer
writes.

Outlander by Diana
Gabaldon- this book was
fabulous and I loved it. But holy mackerel, it was long.

A
Little Something Different by Sandy Hall -this book was not very good, I'll
be honest, but it was adorable I just loved it, and that's all you can really
ask for in a book.

Runner up reads

Still Alice - Lisa Genova - this book was just straight up heartbreaking.

Dumplin by Julie Murphy - I thoroughly enjoyed this one.The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - I haven't read a lot of Picoult's books but dang, she can write a good one.Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson - love a good regency romance.One Plus One by JoJo Moyes - Moyes can do no wrong in my eyes. This wasn't what I was expecting, which made me love it even more.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - this book was weird.. it was good, really good, but in some parts it was boring. Overall it was quite heartbreaking, but beautiful.

53 comments:

i thought about adding my list of worst of the year as well, but ended up not doing it. overall I had a pretty good year for reading. just like you some books just disappointed me and others i really wish i would have just put down and not finished. I read What Alice Forgot last year so i couldn't add it to my list, but I loved it too!

I listened to Outlander in 2014 and re-listened to it this summer. On audiobook format, it comes in at nearly 33 hours, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm interested in the next one in the series, Dragonfly in Amber, but it is close to 40 hours long! I must be suffering from commitment issues right now, because I am having the hardest time committing to something that long.

We do legitimately share *some* similar views (One Plus One, Sea, Liane Moriarity, etc.)...however, I just finished Outlander and thought it was nearly insufferable. I'm convinced we might be the most different people in the world when it comes to what books we love. Are you going to read the (several) sequels?

Haha so I think that I hated The Martian while you loved it, and I loved Station Eleven while you hated it! Everything else, I think that we 100% agree on! I seriously cannot get enough of Liane Moriarty and could read her books all day every day! When I read your list of your favorite books of all time, I immediately added Sea of Tranquility, so hopefully I'll be able to read it, along with the Throne of Glass series, next year! Nightingale is one that I have selected for Erin's Book Challenge, so I'm glad that everybody loves it! So many books, so little time!

My list is sort of like yours - some are on there because they're well written and some are on there because I like them and I can't really tell you why, some because I felt so many things reading them. This mix is why I like real people lists over NYT best of lists - sometimes books that are really well written really suck and sometimes books that leave a little to be desired in the writing arena are great. I loved a lot on yours!

I really want to read The Sea of Tranquility because you're one of several bookworms I've seen who loved it. I've had Outlander on my list forever, but the length completely intimidates me every single time. Also, I think I've said this before, but it makes me really happy that you also didn't like We Were Liars. I will never understand what all the hype was about!!!

So I know all I ever bug you about is the Lunar series now, but I was curious have you read Fairest and Stars Above too? The kind of add ons to the series? Just wondering since now that I finished Winter I'm at a loss... I can't wait to add a bunch of these other books to my must read list! I've been wanting to read the Martian forever and it's always has a million holds at the library.

I hated Station Eleven! I'm glad I'm not the only one! I wasn't a fan of Still Alice! I think I liked the idea of it more than the actual book. I'll have my review of it up tomorrow if you're interested :)

I've only been hearing amazing things about Station Eleven! I'm so glad I saw a few people mention it wasn't as great as everyone was making it out to be... I may have to remove it from my "to read" list.

I see you have a love for Liana Moriarty and Jo Jo Moyes as well :) We have very similar reading styles! I even posted today about how much We Were Liars was a let down. We read it for my bookclub and it really wasn't a crown pleaser at all!

Your book posts always are some of my favorites because my reading list always grows after! I loved The Royal We (let's face it - who didn't?), and I have quite a few of these on my reading list for 2016!

Ooh, I love this list and am so glad to have it for reference. I thought I would pick up reading again over winter break and so far that hasn't happened, as I've opted for quality cinematic experiences, such as Burlesque with Cher and Christina Aguilera. However, from your list I'm so glad you loved Big Little Lies and Outlander! I loved those too.

Out of all of these I've only read The Martian, The Storyteller, and We Were Liars. The Martian and The Storyteller were sooo good. I liked We Were Liars at the time but when I think to it now I'm more 'meh' about it. Soo many of these I want to read though!

We have some of the same, and if I had done a linkup the year I read The Storyteller I would absolutely have added it to the best of the year list. (Now that I think about it, did I leave off Leaving Time!? I think I started it at the end of last year... maybe I finished it around Christmas... who knows!?) I'm glad to see all these year-in-books recaps because even if I read the book posts earlier this year, I'm still adding titles to my list today. If it makes a best-of list, it's worth adding to my TBR list :) Sea of Tranquility is one that I've been putting off for ages and I have no idea why. I have it on Kindle (from you, I believe) and I think I'll go ahead and start it as soon as I finish what I'm reading now.

I've read many of the books on your best list. Outlander has been sitting on my bookshelf forever. I started it once and then stopped. I still have to read the second in the Meyer series and The Royal We has been on my to read list for awhile. Agree with your disappointing reads for We Were Liars and In the Unlikely Event.

I just bookmarked this post (pun not intended) for when I don't have to spend all my time breastfeeding and diaper changing! I would really love to have a moment to read a book and relax again! Henry starts preschool again the first week in Jan. and I'm just over here counting the days down to more free time... #badmommy

I'm working through my "To Read" pile slowly but surely. I haven't read a single book on this list, so I've got a LOT of work to do. Currently reading The Radleys (Matt Haig), Lunar Park (Brett Easton Ellis), The Looking Glass House (Vanessa Tait -- I think you'd like this one), and after that I'm gonna go back and reread Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books. Have you read those? I think you'd dig 'em.

I haven't read the new Judy Blume book, but I've heard not great things about it from several people. Bummer that it was so disappointing! I have several of these books on my to-read list already, but that Edenbrooke one sounds cute! I'm adding it as well. :)

My "worst of the year" list would be hard to track down because it would mostly be books I didn't finish. I didn't realize it at the time, but In the Unlikely Event of was actually making me feel gloomy and depressed (coincidental? not sure?) and when I finished it, my entire world felt happier. What a weird book. Love your picks, of course!!!!

I have Alittle Something coming in the mail. I'm breaking down and going to read the Cinder and Throne series because fairy tales and kick butt females. Still Alice was definitely a runner up for me too! I was a sobbing mess with that book. The whole reason I haven't read Outlander is because of the length. Are you going to read the others in the series?

Just so you know, I totally pinned this so I can go back and find great books to read. I really enjoyed Big LIttle Lies, so I'm definitely going to try What Alice forgot. I'm also in the middle of the The girl on the train :)

I agree that it was really hard to narrow down the absolute best books of the year. I tried to give myself some "rules" because I knew I didn't want to have a list of 25 books when I only read 59. Haha.

And the thing about raving about a book and then forgetting about it a couple of weeks later? I realized that was true for some books that I initially would have put on the list (which is why they were honorable mentions or not mentioned at all).

The Sea of Tranquility and Big Little Lies made it onto my list … I just loved both of those so much (and for very different reasons)!

I picked The Martian and The Nightingale for a couple of categories in Erin's book challenge, so those are going to the top of my "To Read" list. Everyone seems to love both of these books, so I'm really excited to read them!

I like that you shared your least favorites as well. I considered that briefly, but decided I didn't want to waste any time on them. If I really don't like a book, I feel like I rant about it enough in my initial review to last a lifetime. Haha.